Is It OK to Cheat Airlines If It Saves You Money?

This is what really gets under my skin about this:

The ticketing technique “interferes with United’s ability to sell unused seats on the final leg(s) of connecting flights, resulting in the loss of revenue that United would have earned by selling the unused seats,”

So, A/B/C you charge be 100 but A/B you charge me 150. Then you get upset when I buy the A/B/C and don't use the B/C portion. And the reason you are upset is because you could have sold the B/C leg to someone else?!? I paid for the seat, for me. If I choose to leave it empty, SO WHAT!

The last time I checked, if I buy a hamburger and decide not to eat it, that is entirely up to me. This simply sheds light on how the airline industry perceives its customers, which is to say that it doesn't perceive them at all, but rather sees an empty seat, whether or not it was paid for, as being lost revenue.

This is a false framing: the airline's policy is exploitative, and it's hardly a "scam" to exploit its oddities.

If I put a tollboth on the sidewalk in front of my house it would hardly be a "scam" for you to walk across my driveway and onto the street to avoid paying.